


I will fight (your fight)

by fandomlver



Category: Power Rangers Ninja Steel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:36:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23656219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlver/pseuds/fandomlver
Summary: After the talent show; after Levi-Aidan-Levi; after the campfire; after everyone has gone to bed, exhausted in the best way; Mick summons Brody to the hideout.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	I will fight (your fight)

After the talent show; after Levi-Aidan-Levi; after the campfire; after everyone has gone to bed, exhausted in the best way; Mick summons Brody to the hideout.

Brody’s been living with Levi for a while now. The evening was awkward as they tried to navigate their new relationship, and though Brody thinks about waking him, he decides against it in the end. Mick hadn’t indicated any kind of emergency, after all.

Redbot is recharging in a corner. Mick’s fiddling with something on the bench. He abandons it when Brody comes in. “There you are.”

“Hey. Anything wrong?”

Mick shakes his head, then nods, then shakes it again. “No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Listen…” He starts fiddling again. “I thought really hard about calling you for this. I kept changing my mind. I can’t decide if I’m being cruel or not.”

“I didn’t think you knew how to be cruel.”

“We’ll see.” He nods towards a shelf in a corner.

Curious, Brody heads over to it. It’s been cleared of everything but a strange ball shaped item. A strange, ball shaped item with hair. And a face.

Aidan’s face.

“I went to make sure there were no - pieces,” Mick says quietly. Brody realises dully that he’s stopped dead in the middle of the floor, staring at his erstwhile brother. “We don’t want anyone else getting their hands on this kind of tech, after all. And I found him.”

“Is he alive?”

“Sort of. Not for long, though. As far as I can tell, his brain was in his head, so he’s processing things alright. But his power systems were mostly in his body. He’s fading.”

Brody drags his gaze away to turn on Mick. “Why am I here?”

“Because he’s fading,” Mick repeats gently. “And his programming is messed up. He’s missing bits of it.”

“Which bits?” Brody asks unwillingly. Mick isn’t cruel. There’s a reason he’s here.

“He’s lost all the kill crush destroy. He’s kept most of Aidan.”

“He’s not Aidan, Mick.”

“No,” Mick agrees obligingly. “Levi is Aidan. This robot wasn’t there when you were children. He didn’t help you learn how to fight, grieve you when you vanished...he didn’t have to cope, on the run, bereaved, alone.”

Brody looks back at Aidan. “But he remembers doing those things.”

“Yeah. He does.” Mick touches Brody’s shoulder briefly, uncertain as always. “He’s not going to last long. But he doesn’t remember he’s a robot. He’s alone and scared, Brody.”

And he’s Aidan enough that Brody can’t bear the thought. He takes a step closer to the shelf, pausing to look back at Mick. “You made the right choice, calling me here.”

Mick closes his eyes briefly. “I’ll make myself scarce. Redbot won’t wake up unless you need him.”

Brody nods, approaching Aidan. His eyes flicker open as Brody reaches him; it takes him a moment to focus. “Brody! Are you hurt? That fox thing…Mick said you were alright, but...”

“Madame Odius.” Brody shakes his head. “I’m fine. We handled her.”

“Oh, good.” He’s silent a moment. “Am _I_ hurt? I can’t quite - feel...” He trails off in confusion.

“Yeah,” Brody says softly. “Yeah, but we’re taking care of you. You’ll be fine in no time.”

“Oh, good. I like your friends, Brody. I’m glad you found them.”

“So am I.” He swallows. “Bet you didn’t think when it was just the two of us and Dad that we’d have five whole friends, huh?”

“Never even thought we’d have one. All the training…” He seems to fade for a moment, eyes going blank and dull, before rallying. “Do you remember that snap kick combo?”

“I remember I couldn’t learn it. I just couldn’t get it no matter how Dad explained it to me.”

“He wasn’t watching your stance. Weight was all - all wrong. All wrong.”

“You figured it out.” Brody wants to touch him, to lay a comforting hand on him the way Hayley would, but there’s nowhere to touch. Not unless he wants to pat Aidan’s hair, and that’s - wrong, somehow.

“Easy when you know how.”

“Tell me -” Brody stops, thinking.

Because he wants to ask about the years Aidan was alone, to know what he went through, what shaped him into the person he is today. But that’s not fair, is it? They’re Levi’s memories. It feels wrong to take them this way.

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me what you want to do when you’re fixed up,” he says instead, forcing a grin. “Sarah keeps threatening to take me paintballing. I don’t really know what she means.”

“Paintballing’s fun. You’ll like it.” He blinks a couple of times. “You’ll like it. It’s fun.”

“We’ll do that together, then.”

They talk for a while longer. Aidan is fading; he starts repeating himself more and more, losing the thread of the conversation, pausing for minutes at a time. Eventually Brody realises that Mick is nearby, watching them quietly.

“It’s nearly time,” he says softly.

Brody nods. “Aidan, you must be tired. Why don’t you rest a little while? We can talk more when you’re better.”

“Tired. Tired. Ti-tired. Yes, rest.” Aidan’s eyes close, flicker, then open again. “You’re staying here?”

“I’m staying here,” Brody promises, giving in to the impulse to touch his hair. “You just rest. We’re taking care of everything.”

“See you soon, little brother.” His eyes close again, and his face goes - _off_ , somehow. Brody can’t define it, even to himself. But whatever trace of Aidan still animated him is gone, and what’s on the shelf is no more realistic than a mask.

Brody keeps watching it. “What will you do with him?”

“What would you like me to do?” Mick asks.

“Save the memories. Levi might - he might still be missing things. I don’t know yet. We haven’t had much time to talk.”

“Save the memories, got it. And - him?”

The obvious answer is _dismantle it_. Mick could use the parts, and they need to be careful of alien tech floating around.

He can’t make himself say the words.

“Tell you what,” Mick says. “You get some rest. I’ll work on the memories. We can work out the rest later on.”

“School -”

“Don’t worry about school. And I’ll talk to the others.”

Bordy gives in, settling on a bench in the corner. Distantly he can hear Mick talking to Hayley, asking her to explain to the others. It’s the last thing he remembers for a while.

When he wakes up it’s later - he can tell from the feel of the room, the sounds from the mechanic shop next door - and Mick is finishing up something on the bench. There’s a tray with food waiting for him, and a folder labelled in Sarah’s neat writing.

“Notes and your assignments from today,” Mick tells him. 

“Oh. What do they think I’m -”

“Taking a day to deal with everything that’s happened. I didn’t tell them about Aidan.”

“Thanks.” He’s not sure why it matters, other than that it might upset Levi, but he wants to keep Aidan to himself.

Mick steps away from the bench and Aidan looks at what he’s made. It’s a box, glossy and polished, inlaid with metal. There’s patterns inscribed on it; Brody tilts his head, reading the intergalactic language without difficulty.

“ ‘A brother to the end’.” He looks back at Mick, frowning.

“I thought we could bury him. No one can get into this box, and if we bury it as well, he should be safe.”

Burial isn’t a custom of Mick’s people. Brody nods, swallowing. “Yeah. Please.”

“Do you want the others to be there?”

He does, he realises suddenly. He doesn’t want to do this alone. “Yeah. I’ll call them.”

“I can -”

“It’s alright. I want to.” The last thing he’ll do for Aidan.

He takes a deep breath and pulls out his phone, hitting his speed dial. “Preston? Can you get everyone to the base, please? There’s something I have to tell you all. And - a favor I have to ask you.”

**Author's Note:**

> When you've done all you can do  
> If you can't cope  
> I will dry your eyes  
> I will fight your fight  
> I will hold you tight  
> And I won't let go.


End file.
